Survival Guide to Armello: Tips/Tricks and Strategies [Updated for v1.6!]

The Heroes Of The Lands

"From Wolf to Bear, the Clans declare, the time has come to take the throne. The Rot's creeping, it twists our King. Heroes, rise! Save Armello!"

Art By: Nucemis[nucemis.deviantart.com]

Strategy: Thane, The Winter Wolf is at first glance quite powerful, but if his stats are built up right by the player he can be even more so. His Sword Master Talent allows him to burn sword cards offensively for armor piercing.

Thane is your Barbarian character archetype from the wolf clan; if you prefer to bash some skulls in, he is your wolf. He is not that smart, so don’t expect this guy in the Wits Stat (Your Card Draw) or Spirit (Magic) to be anything to write home about.

Thane is an all-out offensive guy whom is built for one purpose: to duel and kill other Heroes, Banes, and the King if need be. His prowess is something to be feared, but his low Wit hurts his ability to pierce. Go for the Wit amulet or a quest to upgrade it ASAP because 3 cards in hand will not cut the mustard. Aim for killing the King, or Prestige by hunting heroes/banes. He is also good at the rot victory.

Strategy: Mercurio, The Grinning Blade is a master fencer and gentleman thief whom excels in his Wits to save him. Off the bat he is your Thief archetype, Mercurio’s Talent is Scoundrel; which allows him to steal gold from other players when you capture a settlement owned by another hero. While one gold seems minuscule on paper, late game this will get annoying real fast as he will constantly steal other players' hard earned cash.

When you look at Mercurio, you’ll notice that his main strength is the slow game, sabotaging other players and making their lives a living hell. Keep on upgrading his Wits and you’ll pretty much never run out of nasty tricks. Your main strength is to outsmart other heroes. His stats are pretty much evened-out so in a pinch he can fight with that Rapier of his due to his high Fight Stat. However evasion is key with Mercurio. The Wits amulet and any ring will do. Aim for Prestige ‘Hero Hunting’ victory or dethroning the king.

Strategy: Sana, The Forest Sister is your mage archetype. She is powerful in terms of her Spirit stat and her Body. However she lacks any combative skills, so avoid combat at all costs.

All she has is a ‘shield and patience’ to ward off other players. So be careful as you will be the target of other players. Your spells are your saving grace. Go for the Spirit Stone victory or Prestige victory by killing Banes with her Talent Priestess, which puts you at an advantage against creatures corrupted with Rot.

Strategy: Amber, The Far Seeker is your plane-jane character. All evened-out stats, a true beginner character; a Jack-of-all-master-of-none. She excels at nothing.

Her saving grace is her Trait: Tomb Raider. This pretty much gives her luck of finding awesome gear and rescue other followers. Which is her best ability: Luck. Go for Prestige victory with Amber, she is great at the political game. As for amulets go for Fight or Wits.

Strategy: Brun, The Oakbreaker is an outright tank. If you like being a defensive juggernaut he is your guy. With an ungodly amount of defense and +6-7 HP to boot; Brun will stonewall out of control if built right.

His talent is Scarcaster, which allows him to buff himself to hit like a freight train with a +1 to his fight for every spell he casts. So this means if you plan to take this guy down, bring the big guns to fight this Bear. Keep on upgrading his defense and HP with quests and he is next to unkillable. Go for the Battle Victory or Prestige. Rot victory is also a valid, due to his good Body.

Strategy: Zosha, The Assassin….. (Sigh) her ability can become annoying. Her Talent is Shadow; basically it gives her invisibility at night. Which makes her extremely dangerous when you do not have any scout items to find her. Because when you least expect it, she will have a knife at your throat.

Play Zosha as a hit and run character. Strike from the shadows and evade during the day, as her main weakness is her low health (she is a glass cannon). Zosha falls into the same trap as Thane and is purely an offensive character. Grab the HP Soak amulet as a gift and don’t look back as she only as 4 HP. Also because she is fragile, she fails at killing tanky characters if not well equiped.

Strategy: River, The Huntress or as I like to call her Katniss Everdeen in wolf form! But in all seriousness River is a sharpshooter with that bow of hers and be warned right now: Run away if you only have one HP as she will snipe you and she gets an easy kill. River’s main talent is Huntress, when attacking she shoots her bow for one damage before she initiates a battle, pretty much giving her a ‘First-Strike’ ability where she will get one free hit before going into a fight.

This means she can instant kill you without going to a battle screen if you have low HP. This can make her overpowered as her snipe ability can be annoying if you are a low on health. But River’s main weakness is her evened out stats, she excels at nothing. Note that this does not make her weak and instead makes it so that any ring or amulet will fit her. Be wary of this fast moving sniper, as she will zig-zag all over the board and snipe you. Aim for dethroning the King as your victory. If you are daring, go for the rot victory.

Strategy: Barnaby, The Screwloose is from the Rabbit Clan and excels in his Tinkering ability. His Talent is mainly utility based, which allows Barnaby to swap items in and out of his inventory without any cost to reequip them if needed. This ability separates him from the others, who lose their items when they replace them with other equipment. This skill alone makes him dangerous in the late game if used correctly, when you will be constantly attacked by banes and other heroes.

Furthermore that armor he wears and that blacksmith hammer he lugs around is not for show, as he sports evened out stats to boot, with high Fight (Combat Skills) and Body (Health Points) stats. This makes him a ‘Jack-of-All Trades’ MacGyver archetype; resourceful and infinite possibilities once you master him. Barnaby suffers in the Spirit stat, making him weak in the magic department.

Overall Barnaby is a strong character that shouldn’t be underestimated as he can constantly adapt and prepare for a fight to go into his favor, so he pretty much jury-rigs the battle with arsenal of nasty item combos. Thane bothering you? Equip and combine a lot of armor! Zosha getting annoying? Equip a Lantern and Spyglass and that invisibility of hers will be rendered moot. I suggest the diamond ring and the Wits or Fight amulet to supplement his offense or defense. Barnaby is suited for all of the victories.

Edit By: wanderer042

Lore Behind The Heroes

** Here is the Lore behind the Heroes. Keep in mind this is all speculation so some of this is implied. We may never know if this is true or not. Due to some insight from the devs, some of what follows is probably canon.**

Art By: cobaltplasma[cobaltplasma.deviantart.com]

"Transcending History and the World, A Tale of Souls and Swords Eternally Retold”- Soul Caliber

Photo by: SvenMueller[svenmueller.deviantart.com]

“Great Heroes Carry the Journey’s Burdens. Not on their shoulders, but in their hearts”- Armello Proverb.

Thane

Age:25

Dossier: While he is popular and is well regarded for his battle prowess among the wolves. Thane is a laid back and cocky for his age. His father had no taste for Thane’s carefree attitude and he believed Thane wasn’t capable of leading the Wolf Clan. However, after the King exiles Thane’s father to die out in the wastes he is thrust into the leader position in his Clan. The people see him as unfit as a leader and instead wants River, Thane's sister, to lead them. Desperate to prove his worth, Thane bids for the throne not only to avenge his father, but also to prove his worth.

Barnaby

Age: (Absolutely Unknown)

Dossier: Uncertain with his life, Barnaby seeks to find a personal truth. By all means he is an outright genius in his clan. People however shun him though, due to his intelligence. He's such a genius that he even made the armor he currently wears himself at a young age. Aloof at times and often a dreamer, as well as a procrastinator at times. Barnaby is a dyed-in-the-wool optimist whom does not dwell on the petty matters of his clan. While his family sees him as wasting his true potential and his mother in particular wants him to carry on the Blacksmithing business like his father, he shows no interest in it. However, after his mother died he became truly lost with only his father left in his family. Barnaby goes out in the world on a pilgrimage to find where he belongs with his life, now more then ever...only to find that Armello is being corrupted by the king with his Rot. His bid for the throne is to bring back peace and hope throughout the land.

Mercurio

Age: 27

Dossier: Mercurio, well… what is there to say. Scoundrel. Scumbag. Romantic. Wiley. Flamboyant. All with a wit like diamond and a tongue of silver. This self-proclaimed Lord rose up out of the shanty towns of the rat capital on the backs and out of the pockets of others. Taverns speak of a rat that always wins, gets the girl, saves the village and feeds the riches to the poor. His victims may speak it a different way. Quick with a dagger, and quicker with his tongue, that’s the true Mercurio.- Armello Dev's**

Art by: Mehrdad Isvandi[armello.deviantart.com]

Amber

Age: 30

Dossier: Former heiress to the illustrious Rabbit Clan, Amber is not your model rabbit nobility. Well, she is, but she also isn't. Socialite, intelligent, industrious, curious, she ticks all the boxes. Problem is, that last one - curious - well, she checks it ten times over. Lady Amber is more concerned with raiding, well, *exploring* ancient dungeons, derelict ruins and forgotten villages. She’s completely obsessed with the lust of the hunt for relics and trinkets of ages long past - for which she has her reasons. Books and tales of epic expeditions and grand adventures inspired her and now it’s time for this child of the burrows to venture further than ever before.- Dev's Guide **

Sana

Age: 40

Dossier: Some say she was raised by the Druids themselves, or that age-old tales foretold her role in the coming of the re-balance. Whatever her fate, she is kin to the Wyld, and its powers are as familiar to her as a mother’s embrace. Sana lacks material needs or desires, instead following the path of the Wyld and the teachings of old. The clan’s soothsayers speak of prophecy, but Sana remains humble. A sorceress and shaman of incredible talent, the Wyld speaks through her, fueling her immense power. They say she will be the one to bring balance, for it already dwells within her.

Brun

Age: Unknown

Dossier: Exiled from the Elder Council, the Bear clan banished him from the Wyld Tree long ago. Though the reasons are unknown it is implied that he defied the council, seeing them as blind to the truth of the Rot. His past remains a mystery. There are rumors going around that he is immortal, that he is over one hundred years old. Brun is the last of his kind, being the last living Scarcaster. He was supposed to live his life as a hermit, but now he's bidding for the throne for his own reasons.

River

Age: 23

Dossier: River has always been one with nature. She is a loner, and prefers to live on her own. River is a master hunter and is well renowned for her archery skills; a gatherer for the Wolf Clan. River is seen as a living example of the Wolf Clan: Strong, Dependent, and Resourceful. She likes to live life on her own terms, not on the whims of others. Out in the wild she is focused, when she hunts food for her clan she finds a sense of purpose. But that is taken away when Rot Banes show up. She now seeks to destroy them at its source.

Zosha

Age: 28

Dossier: Little is known about the assassin known as 'Zosha,' only that she was hired to kill the king. Zosha was hired to deliver the gift of death, a gift that the king deserves and one that she is willing to give. Whoever she works for has death-wishes for not only the king, but the other heroes as well. Stories tell that her leader is called the Night Mother.

Countering

King Arthur: "Now stand aside, worthy adversary."

Black Knight: "Tis but a scratch."

King Arthur: "A scratch? Your arm's off!"

Black Knight: "No it isn't."

- Monty Python and the Holy Grail

Having trouble taking down those pesky heroes stopping you from your goals? Here are some simple ways to counter them!

General Countering Methods

Spells are the safest way to 'counter' your opponents. Spells can damage them enough to give you the advantage in the fight, outright kill them, make their hand less useful for burning, boost your dice count, etc.

Equip items/treasures which gives you some base attack and/or base defense over items/treasures which don't affect battles.

Go primarily defensive on your equipped items over offensive. An attack roll is normally 3/6 compared to 1/6 for a defensive roll. (Note: Use only Heavy Plate Armor as a last resort, as the loss of AP is too great a cost in most circumstances. The two main exceptions are when you play as Barnaby and when you're in the palace with little risk of being spell-cast out of the palace by Banish/dying/evading.)

Clan affinities (i.e. day vs. night) can make a difference, even if it's just 1 additional dice to roll.

Giving any low Body character Rot can result in them having a health disadvantage in battles for the rest of the game as it slowly eats away every dawn. Giving Rot early game to a Rat (i.e. Mercurio or Zosha) is particularly devastating to them.

Going up against a high defense character? Piercing is your friend here (e.g. Longbow, Hand Cannons, and Thane's ability). Wyld's Warning is also effective if you simply want a high defense character off the tile he/she is standing on.

Thane

As with countering all high fight characters, building up base defense is the first means of countering Thane. However, his hero ability means if he has sword cards your first few shields won't mean a thing. To counter his ability, prior to fighting him play a spell which changes all his card icons (e.g. Shimmer Shield or Call of the Worm) or a peril which takes away cards from his hand (e.g. Wake the Trees, Wandering Circus).

Brun and Sana

Both bears share one feature: they rely heavily on their spell-casting to give them an advantage in any fights they get into. Unfortunately, there is no easy way to take away magic in the game since only one peril can do so: Witch Hunters

Instead, the best way to counter them is to straight-on attack them when they aren't boosted by spell effects. For Brun, it's easier to counter him early game when his Fight, Spirit, and Wit are all still low so he can't play many random spells to boost his fight (but be wary of him after he's completed his quests). Sana on the other hand will usually have low Fight throughout the game so head-on attacks will be an effective counter.

Zosha

Invisibility through stealth getting annoying? Then go for the Sailor’s Lantern or Divination. These two cards will negate the cloak of darkness that surrounds her and rid her of her cloak and dagger nonsense. Having a Spy Glass equipped when you have scout gives you a nice bonus of 2 extra dice, but the difficulty/cost of maintaining scout makes Spy Glass an item you don't want to keep equipped for long when other items can guarantee you attack/defense.

River

River's greatest strength is her arrow shot that takes 1 health when she initiates the battle. There are several ways to counter this ability. The easiest method is to take the initiative and attack her first, so she doesn't take that -1 health before the fight. Stealth also prevents her from using her ability even when she does start the battle, so forest tiles are your friend. Lastly, having a good amount of body means that the -1 health is less costly.

Amber and Mercurio:

Both characters start out with low fight and low body, so the best way to counter them is to attack them early game and prevent them from completing quests. Additionally, since their hero abilities depend on them going on certain tiles (Dungeons for Amber, Settlements for Mercurio) perils are your friend. Ward Mercurio off your settlements so he will not steal from you. Keep Amber away from those tombs! Perils also serve to steal AP away so that they have to struggle to get their quests done.

Barnaby:

Steal Items from him. This will put a wrench in his plan: he cannot adapt if he does not have any items! He is also very gold dependent since he starts out poor. Capture towns and he cannot equip items he has not tinkered with. Also, if you see he has bad stuff equipped it probably means he's stuck with a hand of mediocre items. In this case, the best means of countering him is actually to give Barnaby as few opportunities to burn/lose his hand as possible so he is unable to draw for better stuff.

Entering The Palace - Like A Boss!

Written by: wataniyob

So, you want to breach the palace. Generally, if you want to do this then you want to attack the king. But you could be going for one last prestige, or maybe even trying to prevent someone else from attacking the king. In any case, here's a list of general tips to follow about when and how to enter the palace and survive what comes afterwards.

Art by: javieralcalde[javieralcalde.deviantart.com]

"This castle is a creature of Chaos. It may take many incarnations."- Alucard, Castlevania symphony of the night

Actually getting in:

If you complete all your quests, then you don't have to worry about the perils because your 5th and final quest will be Palace Entry. This quest gives you free access to the palace and removes the peril at a specific entrance (it'll always be the right tile of the two palace tiles closest to your clan grounds). Otherwise, see the next few items. Palace perils: There are two wit perils and two spirit perils. Wit perils always have at the start tree/sword/shield/rot and spirit perils always have tree/sun/moon/rot. The order of the icons is always the same for a given type of peril. Expendables will always take the last peril icon away, and Cursed Lands will always add one rot icon. Stacking Expendables on a single palace peril is a nice strategy if you don't want to go for your quests and you're willing to spend the majority of the game drawing from the trickery deck. Wit is the best stat for helping breach the palace (more cards in hand = bigger variety of card icons). If you're serious about getting in, then find ways to burn/use cards which don't have icons that match the peril you're going for until you have the full set. If you don't want to guarantee entry by pulling the full set of cards, then make sure to boost the stat matching the peril through quests/spells before attempting to roll. Some things in the game help you with beating the palace perils. Having the Watch amulet, one or more Adventurer's Kits, Brilliant Fool, and/or something in your inventory which boosts the stat which you're rolling can improve your chances. If someone else is standing on the palace tile you wish to enter, then you have two options: 1) If possible, cast Banish, Wyld's Warning (Note: does not work if the target has Lionheart Breastplate), or enough damaging spells to kill on your opponent. Each of these methods guarantees that they won't be able to stay on their tile. 2) Enter battle and try to have enough attack to either kill the opponent or do more damage than the opponent (Note: does not work if the opponent has Lionheart Breastplate). You also have to survive your opponent's counterattack.

Surviving once you're in:

Once you enter the palace you'll get a bounty on your head (unless you have Royal Pardon or play Reprieve). This means that when you enter the palace can be important, especially if you're worried that the guards will force you out or kill you. Since guards only move at daybreak, entering during the day means the guards won't go after you before you attack the king at night (unless a particular king's declaration is active). If you aren't the strongest character on the board, then the biggest concern will be another hero coming after you and either forcing you out or outright killing you. If you want to kill the king the only way to prevent this is to attack the very turn you enter the palace, which requires you to have a +AP card to play. There are only two: Hot Rot Wine (+1 rot, -1 health; item deck) and Strategist (-3 gold; trickery deck). Defense is especially important because if you get forced off your palace tile due to a guard/hero attacking you, you get one of two results: 1) You leave the palace and you have to waste at least one more turn getting back in, 2) You get forced onto a palace tile. If the palace peril is uncleared, instant 4 damage (unless someone played Expendables/Cursed Lands on it previously which will decrease/increase the health loss) and you get kicked out if you don't die. (Note: Lionheart Breastplate prevents being forced off your palace tile except when you die.) Besides entering the palace during the day so that the guards don't attack you the next turn, there are special cases which can help you in the palace: 1) Zosha's stealthed at night even on a palace tile. 2) Disguise can stealth you on a palace tile; Reprieve/Royal Pardon removes the bounty you get when entering the palace. 3) The Fog of War/Darkest Night declarations can stealth you on a palace tile. 4) The declaration which places a bounty on the prestige leader and gives a reward if you survive a full day removes the bounty at dawn the next day even if you are on a palace tile.

Killing The King

"I can't become king if someone else already sits on the throne."- Nikolai Luzhin

So you want to kill the king? Well let me tell you this: He is extremely powerful. If you wish to take this evil lion out, you need to pray that RNG does not go against you. The roll of the dice is now no longer in your favor, he has all the advantages against you. His items are built to outright counter you. So do quests and prepare for the long con. It's best to wait until he is weak enough (one to two health left) and stonewall him. Tire him out and the throne is yours.

General tips:

Defense is key. I mean it. When you consider that normally a defense roll is only 1/6 compared to the 3/6 for an attack roll, the importance of defense becomes clear. Stack your inventory with defense items while leaving enough dice for you to roll a solid attack. Alternatively, if you have good attack items then cast Shimmer Shield on yourself and burn as many defense icon cards as you want again leaving enough dice to supplement your attack. Complete as many quests as you can before the palace gets opened up (either by you or someone else). You'd be surprised how much of a difference even +1 on a single stat can make against the king.

Poppet can easily secure you a victory if the King is at 1 or 2 health

Recruiting the Squire will make you lose all of your worries of dying against the king. Depending on what your magic level is at before fighting the king, go for some spell cards. Mirror Image, Bark Skin, and Feral are all good against the king. If you are low on health, have bad equipment, have lots of gold, and/or have low magic, definitely draw item cards. You have a better chance of drawing a guaranteed useful icon from the item deck (i.e. tree/sword/shield) to burn against the king. Item deck has 65/86 compared to the 23/70 for the spell deck and 50/73 for the trickery deck. Additionally, you can pull healing items, equippables, etc. to boost your build. Need shield icons to burn against the king? Try the trickery deck (29/73) or the item deck (25/86). Alternatively, if you have high wit you can draw for a Shimmer Shield from the spell deck (4/70).

Rot:

Less rot than the king: You have 0-2 rot: Normal battle victory tips apply.

You have >2 rot: High defense (either through equipment or shimmer shield on a full hand) or good body.

[Note from wataniyob: I have once successfully pulled off a Battle Victory against a 2 health king even after giving him 6 dice through rot because I had Lionheart Breastplate + 2 Heavy Plate Armours as Barnaby. It is in fact possible to pull off!]Equal rot with the king: Essentially a normal battle.More rot than the king (congrats on going for a rot victory!): King has < 5 rot: Normal battle victory tips apply.

King has 5 or more rot: Now you have to worry about missing a bunch and giving the king lots of dice. Have many cards to burn and good equipment (best item = Royal Shield) upon entering the battle. It's OK to burn icons which miss since the king won't get bonus dice from them.

Tips for specific characters:

River can instant kill the king with her snipe ability with no prestige loss if the king has 1 HP. This is one reason why some think she should be outright banned in competitive play. Mercurio can breach the palace walls very early game (around turn 3-5). With base 5 wit and the +1 from the Wits Amulet, you can build up very high wit with quests. As soon as you get him to 7 wits you can pretty much walk right in like a boss. With the right cards, you will guarantee victory. Amber has a balanced set of starting stats, but that means she starts with low Fight and therefore is poorly set up to go against the King. However, choosing the Fight amulet and going for two Fight quests will put her on equal terms with the other heroes. Additionally, Amber benefits from her Treasure/Follower pulls from dungeons which can net her sweet stuff (e.g. Lionheart Breastplate, Royal Shield, Blacksmith, Alchemist). With the right build, Amber can wreck the King:

Barnaby, before the fight can re-equip plate armor, combat armor, and/or the trusty shield - you are indestructible! This makes him particularly good if you're going against the king with more than 2 rot while having less rot than him (giving the king a lot of bonus dice). Not to mention you do not even have to drop a dime to do so if you've already equipped them before. So the king will tire himself out. XD Sana has the nice advantage of using her spirit against the king since the king is corrupted. This may come as a pleasant surprise if you've been fighting heroes/guards the entire game to suddenly find yourself with much more dice to roll. With Sana, it's best to have some decent equipment you've picked up throughout the game and (very importantly) buff yourself before the fight with a bunch of spells. Buffing your spirit through your quests and the Focus spell will also help. Thane has base high fight, with decent other stats. For him, just be sure to have good defense items equipped and to have a couple sword icon cards in hand in case you're worried your attacks won't get through the king's defense. Zosha's biggest weakness is her low body. Once you buff that stat up permanently through quests, then she is quite the fighter and will just as easily take on the king as Thane.

Be forewarned that once you go for the king, EVERYONE and I mean EVERYONE will aim for you now. Be prepared for the most tense battle of the game.

Getting Rid Of Rot

” The line’s pretty clear, zero tolerance for walkers,”- Walking Dead

There are only a handful of ways to get rid of this deadly disease. Once you get it, it should be your top priority to get rid of this ASAP unless you plan on going full on corrupted. Rot will drain you of your life slowly, taking 1 health every dawn. High rot can make you stronger, but it comes at a dire price if you go against a creature with even more rot than you. If you luck into it, you can meet some druids to remove your rot entirely, but these randomly occur at stone circles at night so don't hold your breath. I suggest these items and artifacts if you're looking for more consistent ways of clearing up the rot. Be safe out there hero - I know I will.

Cleansing Wyld is a spell which removes 1 rot (along with poisoning). This is the only card which removes rot permanently and why you always want to have a little magic around. Note: there are only 2 of these in the spell deck, so think carefully about whether you want to use/burn the card to free up space in your hand.

Then there is Wyld Talisman, a treasure that hides the fact you are anything but pure. Note: You will still build up rot from rot sources so if you remove the treasure your rot count will match what you would have had if you didn't have the treasure equipped when you gained more rot.

Mountain Moss is a temporary solution, but works in a pinch. Useful if you're Infected (<5 rot) and are preparing to go against the King. Also useful to apply to yourself or other creatures before entering battle with them to ensure you have the rot advantage in battle. Can also be used to lower an opponent's rot to less than the King right before they fight the King.

As a means of last resort, you can completely reset your rot count to 0 by getting 4 spirit stones while corrupted or vice versa. Once you have 4 spirit stones, it becomes impossible to be corrupted (you immediately die and get reset to 0 rot every time you reach 5 rot). Note: Even though you die when you enter a stone circle when corrupted, you do pick up the stone before dying.

Merged b.templar328 edit, written by: wataniyob

Rotting Away - A Companion's Guide

Written by: wataniyob

So let's say you decide to go fully over to the dark side. You don't care about those measly peasants and all you desire is more power. You scoff when you see the king's corruption and you think to yourself: "I'm not afraid to go deeper into the darkness..."

Understand that gaining lots of rot quickly is a very hard task and more than likely you'll hit roadblocks on your journey to being the new king of corruption. Here are some tips to help you along your way:

Infected = less than 5 rot; Corrupted = 5 or more rot

Character Choice:

Sana: Irony abounds that the Wyld priestess is actually one of the better characters for gaining lots of rot. Her high starting body and spirit makes her quick to go through spells and strong against banes in battle. Her primary weakness is facing other non-corrupted heroes and the guards in battle.

Brun: Although his spirit is not high to begin with, you have the ability to boost his fight with spells.

Zosha & Thane: Both have very good fight and health on the low end to start. The advantage here is that if you get a bunch of banes then gaining rot can be quick.

Card Draws:

The number of different cards in each deck (accounting for multiples of cards) which give you rot are as follows: Items = 8, Spells = 4 (including Dark Influence which gives rot as the effect, not the cost), Trickery = 2, Followers = 1, Treasures = 3.

Increase your wit stat to better your chances of drawing rot-giving cards.

One needs a good way to get rid of cards that don't give rot to open your hand to drawing more cards. For this reason we recommend drawing from the spell deck and having 4 spirit minimum. Magic gets refilled every nightfall and you can't always rely on having enough gold or having nearby perils/battles to use/burn off item/trickery cards.

If you can get yourself 4 magic, Dark influence = +1 rot and +1 Rot-costing card. Using this card on yourself and then finding a way to play the other card immediately gives +2 rot minimum.

Banes:

Before Corruption Banes give you +1 rot if you die to them. For this reason, if you have a low health and/or low fight character you can go after banes to purposefully die to them.

Since you need to die to banes to get rot, this method of gaining rot is only recommended if you have a good number of banes and/or a bunch of dungeons which could potentially spawn banes near your clan grounds. The turn penalty of walking distances across the map just to die to a bane is too costly.

To ensure death to a bane, burn cards which guarantee misses and try not to have too many defensive items equipped.After Corruption Banes give you +1 rot if you kill them. Now when facing a bane in battle, make sure you either have more rot than them or have a sufficient number of dice to roll.

Cleansing Wyld/Mountain Moss can be applied to banes to reduce their rot so you have equal/more rot than them.

If the bane dies to the Poppet effect or from playing a spell/item, you do not get rot.

Note: Killing and dying to a bane at 4 rot gives you +2 rot because you died to a bane (giving +1 rot), became corrupted, and then also killed the bane (+1 rot). This may or may not depend on you attacking the bane instead of defending.

King's Declarations:

Best king's declaration to get is the one which places Plague perils on all the settlements. Just walk around and purposefully fail them to gain rot. High body/many healing items will reduce the cost of being poisoned from the perils.

Declarations which summon banes are also good for gaining rot.

Blood Moon gives +1 rot to everyone, which not only boosts your rot but also results in you now getting 1 extra bonus dice against all other heros in battle (if you already had the highest rot).

For backup strats when you realize you can't get rot fast enough, see the previous section about removing rot.

Tips/Tricks

" The Secret of becoming boring, is to say Everything"- Voltaire

General tips:

Have too many useless cards in your hand? If you have plenty of gold/magic, then just find ways to use them up. Don't have gold/magic? Find a nearby peril or enter a battle and just burn them.

The best way to discourage others from attacking you in battle is by casting spells to lower their health. Of course, this may also result in them attacking you in retaliation, but it betters your chances of the opponent dying.

Dungeon exploring can let you luck into sweet treasures/followers (excluding Moon Scythe & Apothecary, which can only be acquired through random encounters). This is particularly important for Amber, who has her hero ability that directly increases the chance of rolling a positive outcome. Also, missing gold and just can't get enough settlements? Dungeons are your best chance of pulling the gold you need fast.

Poisoned, have low health, and don't have a way of healing? It's OK to just spend a turn not moving at all.

Having TOO many dice when battling against the King can be just as bad as not having enough - remember that your misses all go to the King. Unless the King has a significant amount of health remaining, you have low Fight, or you have bad equipment, there usually isn't a need to apply Feral/Brazenberry Ale to boost your dice count.

Don't be hasty and enter the multiplayer queue without practicing many games in singleplayer first. Not only do the singleplayer games give good practice at gameplay, but they also count towards unlocking rings/amulets which might otherwise give long-time players in multiplayer an advantage over you. A good gauge of when you've practiced enough is when you have fully revealed your card gallery (Apothecary can be excluded), unlocked all of the rings for the clan(s) you want to use, and unlocked all amulets (Spoil can be excluded).

Advanced tips:

Card rarity can be found by revealing the flavor text (bottom left icon). Rarity categories are as follows: Unique = 1 per deck, Rare = 2 per deck, Uncommon = 3 per deck, and Common = 4 per deck. Keep track of how many copies of each valuable card have been played by the other heroes so that you dont go drawing for a card that has already been all used up.

Need to know what quest your opponents are on? Look at the sum of their stats (subtracting spell/item/Alchemist effects and events which change body). Palace entry occurs at either 20 (no stat-boosting amulet) or 21 (with stat-boosting amulet).

NPC movements (without King's declarations) are as follows:

+ General priority for attacking: bounty level (Guards only) -> closest distance -> turn order

(i.e. NPCs attack the closest target -> NPCs attack character with earlier turn if equi-distant)

+ King's Guards [3 AP] (excluding guard defending palace): hero on palace tile with bounty -> hero with bounty -> Bane -> if target within three board tiles but unreachable, either use up all AP to walk in direction of target (if movement causes guard to be closer to target) or remain on original tile (may involve walking off and back onto original tile) -> 1 tile in direction towards target settlement

+ Banes [1 AP]: settlement -> visible hero -> King's guard -> nearest settlement direction

One guard will always be defending the palace and that guard will move 1 AP counterclockwise around the palace unless the next tile is blocked by another guard or someone's inside the palace with a bounty. Hover over the guards in the palace and look for the one that has "Defending Palace."

Action points are precious in this game, thus cards which give you more AP are very important to hold onto. The three cards which do so are Hot Rot Wine, Strategist, and Haste. Adding on to this, avoid Heavy Plate Armor until late game because its AP cost is too significant early-to-mid game (unless you are playing Barnaby).

Since Immolation is a range-based damage spell, playing it on self does 4 damage. It's one of the best ways to death-warp back to your clan grounds if your next quest is right outside.

Mirror Image takes two dice away from your opponent, so play it to yourself. Its effect also stacks, so if you're lucky you can apply multiple Mirror Images against the King, which can net you cases like this:

The spell Banish can be more than an offensive spell to remove someone from where you don't want them to be. After accepting another quest and seeing that it's on the opposite side of the map, cast Banish on yourself to put you much closer to it! Same thing with Banish perils that have been placed on circles, you can purposefully fail them if you want to get to the other side of the board quickly. Note: Banish will only teleport you to the furthest empty dungeon and the shortest distance can be calculated through palace tiles.

Evasion (via Wyld's Warning) can be used both offensively and defensively. If you have high wit or good equipment, then you are almost guaranteed to survive your opponent's attack. (Note: When evading you move diagonally to either side of the attacking opponent unless both tiles are blocked, in which case you move directly backwards.) Forcing evasion on a character in the palace before someone attacks them (another player or guard at dawn) means they must exit the palace (unless they have Lionheart Breastplate). If your opponent has low Wit/poor equipment or you have Poppet equipped, playing evasion on them can also give an easy kill.

When you fail a peril that moves you to a different tile on the board (i.e. Banish & Welcoming Party), if there are equi-distant tiles that are empty and meet the criteria then the game rewinds your board movement until it finds a previous location where only one tile meets the criteria and displaces you to that tile. (Important Note: As of the 1.4 release this is no longer true and the game seems to just randomly select one of the equi-distant tiles.)

Perils

Spell Perils (Roll Spirit count to escape / Can only place within Spirit count)

Name

.......................... Penalty

......................................................................................... Cost

.................... Icons

.................................. Tiles

........................... Tanglevine -1 Action Point & -1 Health -2 Magic Shield/Sun/Moon Plains, Forest, Swamp Banish Teleport to furthest unoccupied Dungeon -4 Magic Sun/Sword/Shield Dungeon, Stone Circle Plague +1 Rot & Poisoned +1 Rot Rot/Rot/Shield Swamp, Settlement Wake the Trees -1 Action Point & -2 Cards from Hand -2 Magic Sun/Shield/Sword Forest Blizzard -2 Health & Forced off Mountain -2 Magic Sun/Shield Mountains Rite of Wyld -1 Health per Rot count -3 Magic Tree/Shield/Shield Stone Circle Call of the Worm All cards in target's hand change to Rot symbols +1 Rot Rot/Moon/Sun Dungeon Dark Influence +1 Rot & +1 Rot-costing Spell card -4 Magic Rot/Sword/Sun Dungeon Moonbite -2 Health (Night) or -1 Health (Day) -1 Magic Sun/Moon Plains, Dungeon Lightning Strike -3 Health & Ends Turn -5 Magic Sword/Shield/Sun All

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Trickery Perils (Roll Wit count to escape / Unlimited range to place)

Note: Costs of gold will decrease based on number of settlements owned.

Name

.......................... Penalty

......................................................................................... Cost

.................... Icons

.................................. Tiles

........................... Hidden Trap -1 Action Point & -1 Health -2 Gold Shield/Moon/Sun Forest, Mountains, Dungeon Vile Official -1 Gold per Claimed Settlement (Clan Grounds included) -1 Gold Rot/Moon/Sun Settlement Slanderous Toads -1 Prestige per Claimed Settlement (Clan Grounds included) -1 Prestige Sun/Shield/Moon Settlement Wandering Circus Steal 2 Cards from target's Hand -2 Gold Sword/Shield/Sun Plains, Settlement Plague Bearers -2 Health (If kills target, +1 Rot) +1 Rot Rot/Moon/Sword Swamp, Dungeon Witch Hunters -4 Magic and -1 AP -3 Gold Moon/Shield/Sun Settlement, Dungeon, Stone Circle Cat Burglar Steal 1 Equipped Item -3 Gold Shield/Moon/Sun Settlement, Dungeon Welcoming Party Target exiled to nearest unoccupied Mountain and ends turn -2 Gold Sun/Shield/Sword Settlement Pick Pockets Steal 2 Gold (If target can't pay, Steal 1 Equipped Item) -2 Gold Sun/Shield/Sun Settlement Mercenaries -1 Action Point & -2 Health -3 Gold Sword/Shield/Sun All Merry Thieves Steal 2 Gold from target (Give to poorest Hero) -1 Gold Moon/Sun Forest, Settlement Beheaded Kill 1 Recruited Follower -1 Prestige Sun/Shield/Shield Settlement Bribery Steal 1 Recruited Follower -3 Gold Shield/Sword/Moon Settlement Crooks -2 Gold (If target can't pay, -1 Health & -1 Action Point) -2 Gold Sword/Shield All Hoodwinked Unequip All Items -4 Gold Sun/Moon/Shield Settlement, Dungeon Sharpshooter -1 Health (-2 Health if target has Bounty) -3 Gold Shield/Shield All

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Perils by Tile Type

Below we list each tile type and the only perils which can be found on them (excluding Crooks, Mercenaries, Sharpshooter, and Lightning Strike, which can be placed on any tile). Spell perils will be listed first, followed by Trickery perils.

Plains: Tanglevine, Moonbite / Wandering Circus

Forest: Tanglevine, Wake the Trees / Hidden Trap, Merry Thieves

Mountains: Blizzard / Hidden Trap

Swamp: Tanglevine, Plague / Plague Bearers

Settlement: Plague / Vile Official, Slanderous Toads, Wandering Circus, Plague Bearers, Witch Hunters, Cat Burglar, Welcoming Party, Pick Pockets, Merry Thieves, Beheaded, Bribery, Hoodwinked

Dungeon: Banish, Call of the Worm, Dark Influence, Moonbite / Hidden Trap, Plague Bearers, Witch Hunters, Cat Burglar, Hoodwinked

Stone Circle: Banish, Rite of Wyld / Witch Hunters

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Perils by Icon

Below we list the number of different perils and how many have a particular icon needed to escape.

Total: 26

Shield: 20 / Sun: 20 / Moon: 12 / Sword: 10 / Rot: 5 / Tree: 1

Rare Encounters

The Ancients

Requirements: Night, Stone Circle tile

Achievement: Circle of Power

Stone: +1 Spirit Stone

Salvation: Remove all Rot

Scythe: Moon Scythe treasure, can't be drawn from dungeons/quests.

From the Wiki: " At night, the moon scythe doubles the chances of your rolled dice exploding (from 1/6 to 1/3). Combine with the Aflame spell card to increase you chances by another 1/6, for a grand total of one of every two dice exploding!" [A note from wataniyob: Aflame is not recommended against the king at night since you'll keep on rolling after each sun miss and the king will get bonus dice for each miss.]

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The Goblins' Game

Requirements: Night, Dungeon tile

Achievement: Dungeon Deals

"By Soup!": +2 Rot

"By Eye!": Permanent scout, -1 Body

"By Raven's Beak!": Raven's Beak Dagger (costs +2 rot to equip)

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A Helping Paw...

Requirements: Day, Settlement tile, 1 health

Achievement: An Apple a Day

"Just patch me up, Doc.": Full heal.

"Make me stronger!": +1 Body

"Join my quest for the throne.": Apothecary follower, can't be drawn from dungeons/quests.

Gives +2 health for every heal you perform.

Note: For this encounter, as long as the Apothecary isn't chosen it is possible to keep getting it if you meet the requirements. This means that you can use this quest to keep increasing your body.

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Whiteshadow's Gift

Requirements: Day, Forest tile, Rot

Achievement: Dark Temptation

"Power": [Random Treasure], +1 Rot

"Knowledge": +1 Spirit Stone, +1 Rot

"Itself": Full heal, +1 Rot

Rings (Part One)

When you first start a game of Armello, you have three big choices to make-

Who you will play. Which signet ring you will use. Which talisman you will use.Each of the clans has 4 rings. These are unlocked by COMPLETING games, not winning; so fear not if you don't get that last win, the ring gets unlocked as you finish games (i.e.- The King falls for the last time) and each is slightly different for each clan.

First we have the Wolf clan rings-

Sapphire- Gain stealth on Mountains Day and Night

A fairly self explanatory ring, it allows for the Stealth buff while in Mountains and is the default player ring until you have won a few games and gotten the second ring. Situation-ally useful.

Moonstone- +1 Magic for any Kill in Battle.

A slightly less obvious ring for the Wolf clan, seeing as the default Spirit for both of the Wolf characters is just about or beneath average. BUT- if you are playing either Thane or River as a 'off-mage' and focusing on your own buffing outside of items, this ring is amazing-

By adding one to your magic pool after each kill in battle, you might get that last point for a teleport or a Bark Skin for more health. Situationally useful.

Onyx- +1 Gold for any Kill in Battle.

This ring is like the Moonstone one, but focuses on Gold, the best use for this ring is a settlement/dungeon crawl path/bounty hunter (gold generation) play-style. A little more useful than the default magic ring as items are a bit more important on Wolves.

Celestite- Ignore Mountain movement penalty.

Mother of God...A ring that is HALF of a TREASURE CARD?! Welp, it takes ten games to get so it is among the most grind you can get in this game (all the last rings take 10 full games and the number is additive, not reset at each ring. After your fifth game, you need five more-NOT TEN). While not as obviously useful as the other rings, which take effect when you do things; this ring allows for free(ish) mobility on map. The extra action point you get for this when walking over Mountains (because Mountains now take 1 AP) is just insane. The varied nature of Armello map generations could make this your best friend or your worst decision of the game (objectively speaking, it isn't a bad choice to take; just map dependent). Personally recommended as the go-to ring for the Wolf clan as it allows for more movement early that isn't RNG dependent.

Bear Clan is up next-

Jade- +3 Magic if you are in a Forest tile at Dawn.

This ring is the first you have as a Bear and it plays to the main strength of the Bear clan in that they cast spells more than the other clans will from the get go. Very useful, especially on Brun as he NEEDS the boost to keep his Scar-casting up (his passive). Note that on Brun- if you play a spell peril it still counts. Almost a must on Brun, depending on the intended victory, Sana can use it well. Recommended.

Quartz- -1 Rot if you are in a Stone Circle at Dawn

Okay, if you DON'T wanna go full Rot, use this ring to offset that one or two points you can get a turn. IF you get corrupted with it, you really can't use it as the Circles will kill you. A nice insurance policy, but that is merely a stop gap measure at best. Situationally useful.

Amethyst- +1 Magic for each Spell card burned.

Okay, this ring is a bit odd, but it can be useful just before your turn, burn all your remaining spells and draw new ones and have the magic to cast them, but overall not as useful as the other rings. Situationally useful.

Amber- Burning Sun and Moon cards in Battle is always considered a Hit.

IS ANYONE ELSE NOTICING THE THEME OF BROKEN RINGS ON THE FOURTH RING YET?!

This is effectively the ROYAL SHIELD TREASURE CARD IN RING FORM. Sure you need to burn your cards, but seeing as you get them every turn any way...

That being said, it is like the third ring, useful in some cases and a detriment in others. Low Wit will actually hurt you with this ring and as the Bears aren't known for their Wit...Situationally useful.

To Be Continued (in Part Two)

Rings (Part Two)

Continued from Part One-

The Rat clan are up next-

Black Opal- Gain Stealth in Settlements Day and NIght.

Okay, useful and a decent buff, but seeing as the Rats have a slightly better ring in this vein a little later on...HOWEVER, will allow the Rats to sneak around unless you watch them like a hawk, decent first ring.

Obsidian- At Night gain Scout on all of your claimed Settlements.

Fun fact, Scout covers the SIX adjacent tiles and allows you to see Stealth-ed units and view perils. Vision is a life saver, especially with all the perils limited to settlements. even if you own it, if someone plays a peril on you and you aren't ready for that f*cking Lightning Bolt...Extremely useful.

Ruby- First Rolled Sword in Battle Explodes.

Easy enough for a fighting based win. On Zosha, very broken very quickly. However will only apply to the FIRST sword, not to any of the following swords. Nice freebie explode is always nice however. Recommended if you are going for a King-slayer or Rot victory.

Turquoise- Gain the Evade ability.

Holy hell, you will hardly ever get caught with this. The Rat clan are no combat slouches and when you take all of their potential hits and make them shields AND allow them to always scurry away (like the rats they are) when you attack them...The Evade ring is nice if you don't want to die / aren't that interested in fights when you don't start them. Be warned, this ring remains active in the palace, so you may find it very hard to stay inside. Mildly/Hesitantly recommended and Situationally useful.

And (currently) last but not least are the Rabbit-

Emerald- Gain +2 Shields on Plains.

Okay, nice first ring, and allows for a somewhat more versatile load out of items. The free shields are only on Plains tiles, but those are the most/tied for the most common tile type. Recommended.

Pink Topaz- Increase all your Settlement Income by +1 every Morning.

All I can say is a MUST on Barnaby as he needs all the early money he can get. Useful on Amber if she needs the items and or followers. Over all, the best basic ring the Rabbits have.

Diamond- +1 Prestige for each Follower and Treasure equipped.

Useful, but only when you can GET Treasures and Followers (b.templar428 note- The Followers seem to be the RAREST deck you get to draw from and the hardest to get via quests, but they are so useful I can't deny that it makes sense.) Situational.

Sunstone- In Battle and Perils, +1 Sun result when you have more than 3 Gold.

Okay, this ring SEEMS to break the broken ring trend, but in all likelihood it is just as broken as it sounds. The fact that you get a free Sun in your dice pool is nice and very useful, but that requirement of 3+ gold hurts, especially early on when you are most likely NOT going to keep that in your inventory. Situational use at best, more often not useful at all. If you are playing with others you know, it MIGHT pay off.

Amulets

The Amulets in Armello are universal - everyone in the game has one of 12 Amulets-

1 each for each of the Four base stats

1 each for the win conditions of the game

2 for completing enough games

2 for completing multiplayer games.

Amulet Name Amulet effect Scratch +1 Fight Soak +1 Body Think +1 Wit Feel +1 Spirit Grow +1 Health at Dusk Watch Guaranteed First Symbol match in Perils Favor Start the game with 2 Prestige Base Spoil Start with 2 Rot. (You will be Infected and suffer -1 Health at Dawn) Dig Higher chance of rolling a spirit stone in dungeons Sprint +1 AP for one turn after dying Discipline Doubles Clan Affinity dice bonus Resist +1 Shield in Battles and Perils

Scratch- +1 FightEasy enough to understand, best used on the more Martial characters. Also good for anyone looking to directly slay the King or get in fights often.

Soak- +1 Body+1 Health is never bad.

Think- +1 WitsNEVER UNDERESTIMATE A FREE CARD. Good on all characters, better on others.

Feel- +1 SpiritUseful if you plan on being a mage.

Grow- +1 Health at DuskUnlocked on Spirit Stone win, nice every off turn health boost.

Watch- Guaranteed First Symbol match in PerilsUnlocked on King-slayer win, odd amulet to get for it, but allows you to get a partial Adventurer's Kit from the get go, Situational. Great if you can grab the Bard follower.

Favor- Start the game with 2 Prestige BaseUnlocked on Prestige win, USEFUL AS ALL HELL. This is your BASE Prestige, it cannot go under this EVER. Also allows you to (usually) be the Prestige Leader from the start of the game. Recommended heavily.

[Note from wataniyob: I disagree with this opinion since I find Prestige is cheap to come by in the game (through killing banes/heroes, completing quests, saving terrorized settlements, and equipment).]

Spoil- Start with 2 Rot. (You will be Infected and suffer -1 Health at Dawn) Unlocked on Rot win (kill the king in a King-slayer Victory when you have more rot than he does). Currently the hardest Amulet to obtain and the most double edged of them all. Only choose this if you intend to go full Rot/Corruption as fast as you can. Otherwise the Health damage could be your undoing.

Dig- Higher chance of rolling a spirit stone from dungeonsUnlocked on finishing 10 games. Only useful if aiming for Spirit Stone victory from the beginning.

Sprint- +1 AP for one turn after dyingUnlocked on finishing one game with each character. Most useful for getting to the palace in end-game (especially if you die on a palace tile and have heavy plate armor equipped).

Discipline- Doubles Clan Affinity dice bonusUnlocked on finishing one public multiplayer game.

Resist- +1 Shield in Battles and PerilsUnlocked on reaching Level 10 in multiplayer rank.

We hope this helps all you fellow Armellians in your quests for the Throne, and should we meet in the Fields-

May the race be good and fun for all involved!

Deck Statistics

Below we list various statistics for the three decks you get to draw from accounting for the card rarity system:

Items

Total: 90

Sword icons: 30

Shield icons: 25

Tree icons: 12

Rot icons: 10

Sun icons: 5

Moon icons: 8

Cards with healing effects: 8

Cards which do instant damage to opponents: 6

Cards which give Rot to self: 8

Spells

Total: 70

Sword icons: 0

Shield icons: 13

Tree icons: 10

Rot icons: 10

Sun icons: 21

Moon icons: 16

Cards with healing effects: 8

Cards which do instant damage to opponents: 15

Cards which give Rot to self: 4

Trickery

Total: 84

Sword icons: 27

Shield icons: 29

Tree icons: 0

Rot icons: 2

Sun icons: 9

Moon icons: 17

Cards with healing effects: 0

Cards which do instant damage to opponents: 13

Cards which give Rot to self: 2

Source: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=516127583					

More Armello guilds

• All Guilds
• Clans And Heroes Lore, Hero Abilities, Novellas And Hero Skins
• Armello Guide 9
• Armello's Amazing Achievements
• Armello Dice Skins
• Armello - Chat Cards
• Armello - Cry Us a River: SP Strategy
• Armello - Dark Temptation Guide (How to Trigger)
• Armello - Sargon Character Guide (The Death Smeller)
• Armello - Horace Guide / The Iron Brainlet